


To Catch a Keith

by A_Murder_of_Pigeons



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Family Reunions, Gen, Keith (Voltron) Angst, it's basically a thief AU of their meeting in canon, like that “who is this idiot? OH he’s MY idiot” bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 14:53:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17510726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Murder_of_Pigeons/pseuds/A_Murder_of_Pigeons
Summary: Rushing down a strange hallway in the dead of night didn’t make for the best family reunion, but it was more of a reunion than Keith had ever thought he’d get.





	To Catch a Keith

**Author's Note:**

> Title a play on "To Catch a Thief" for no other reason than Keith being an shitty cat burglar.  
> Please enjoy!

What is it about a new place that makes it so easy to forget? It’s almost as if the problems, the fights, belonged to another place. Almost. Keith has been on the move long enough to know, though, that just as he belongs to no one, his problems belong to no place. They follow him with the wind, with the creeping sense of dread that this is all he’ll ever amount to. Just a guy stuck in his head, stalked by his past, stealing from place to place as easily as he steals from other people. 

Still, sometimes if he moves fast enough, if he represses hard enough, it gives him a little more time before it gets bad again. Before he gets bad again. 

Here on the shingles his tread stays light even as the wind threatens to buffet him from the rooftop. Keeping his center of gravity low, Keith stalks up to the chimney on the westernmost side of the mansion. If he’s done his research right, then this chimney will take him down into one of the uninhabited guest rooms.

Maybe it’s petty, but once Keith had heard that this mark was a competitive big game hunter, he knew where he was going to make his next buck. The guy was probably just like the people from Keith’s hometown- privileged, bigoted, and blasé about any life other than their own. It’s a bitter pill then that some of Keith’s strongest memories of his earlier life include those small town bigots, and not his parents’ warm, if cramped house at the edge of town. Maybe if he’d known that everything he loved was going to go up in smoke he’d have paid more attention. 

Attaching one end of a chord to the lip of the chimney, Keith carefully lowers the other end down into the darkness. Descending this way is almost completely up to his upper body strength, slowly lowering himself down the length of the cable hand under hand. Unsurprisingly, a budget funded by petty crime doesn’t leave much room for expensive climbing gear. 

Keith is a few feet from the floor of the fireplace when his grip slips. A muffled grunt escapes his throat as his ankle twists beneath him, quickly followed by his shoulder and head colliding with the carpet. 

It is admittedly a very soft carpet; still the various points of impact ache as Keith lays half in and half out of the stupidly large fireplace. Ever the multitasker, Keith listens for signs of life while regretting everything that had led him to this point. 

After finding himself alone in the world, he’d provided for himself through… minor… criminal activity. Then, for god knows what reason, he’d felt it was time to go for a bigger prize. With no training. As he lays there, he’s becoming more and more aware that despite his own self-proclaimed skills, no one is born inherently suited to cat-burglary. 

And clearly it was showing, given the bruising he’d unintentionally inflicted upon himself roughly ten minutes into his “stealth” mission. Sighing into the carpet, Keith-

 

“Are you alright?”

 

Shooting up from his prone position and scrambling backwards, Keith stares in shock at the person standing across the room. In the dark and from his vantage point crouched on the hearth there’s not much that he can see except for a tall, dark silhouette. But their voice sounds feminine. And… familiar?

Apparently deciding that Keith isn’t responding fast enough, the woman speaks again.

“That was quite a tumble. Did you forget your key?”

Bristling at the amusement in her voice, Keith angrily rises from his squat and promptly brains himself on the lintel of the fireplace. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He wakes up to soft light and softer touch, a finger gently brushing his hair out of his face. Something about that didn’t seem quite right to Keith, but the pain in his head seemed like a more pressing concern at the moment. 

Groaning, Keith tried to push himself upright but stopped at the sound of a familiar, warm voice.

“Slow down there, you might be concussed,” which might have been followed by a muttered ‘he doesn’t get it from me’. That seemed a little strange too, but ultimately less important than his burgeoning headache. 

Sitting up anyway, Keith turned towards the voice and blinked rapidly but with the only light source in the room being pointed directly into his eyes, he couldn’t make much out. 

Squinting, he snapped out a pointed, “Do you mind?” 

The other quickly lowered the flashlight and then, oh so hesitantly, directed it back towards themselves. As the black spots cleared from Keith’s vision, his mind went blank. There was no way- she’d died in that fire, same as dad, but…

 

 

 

“Mom?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rushing down a strange hallway in the dead of night didn’t make for the best family reunion, but it was more of a reunion than Keith had ever thought he’d get. He could barely suppress the flood of questions that he had for this woman, his mother, but every time he started to whisper he was vigorously shushed. 

Finally, Krolia stopped in front of him, hissed, “stealth,” and picked up the pace. She led him through the kitchens and out of a small door, one apparently deactivated from the household alarm system. 

Once outside, they sprinted for the tree line and disappeared into the forest beyond the house. Without pausing for breath, Krolia turned around and swept Keith up into a hug, “I’m so happy that you’re alive. I know that you have questions, but I need to make sure we’re safe first.”

With that, they ran off into the night.


End file.
